


Man in the Middle

by lachatblanche



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, Manipulation, Minor spoilers for original work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8106283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lachatblanche/pseuds/lachatblanche
Summary: Logan sees what's going on between Charles and Erik. He doesn't approve. A remix of 'The Hellfire Club' by Gerec.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Hellfire Club](https://archiveofourown.org/works/630409) by [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec). 
  * In response to a prompt by [Gerec](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerec/pseuds/Gerec) in the [xmen_remix_madness2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmen_remix_madness2016) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
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> Safe work, if any (no limit): [Gods or Mortals](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3239984/chapters/7058198)  
> Previous remixes, if any: [The Painter (Masterpiece Remix)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4750628); [Sins of the Father (Daddy Issues Remix)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4788248)  
> I am okay with my non-XMFC/DoFP/XMA X-Men works being remixed: n/a  
> I am okay with my collaborations being remixed: yes  
> I am okay with being remixed in a different medium (fic for art or art for fic): yes  
> I am okay with certain WIPs being remixed: yes to all except safe work
> 
> Minor spoilers for 'The Hellfire Club' (you should probably read that first).

Logan wasn't what one would normally call a worrier.

Sure, he was a bodyguard and all - a bodyguard to a _mob boss_ , no less (even if only a handful of people knew that the person in question _was_ a mob boss) - but he'd never really been one for worrying. It just wasn't his style.

So the fact that he found himself worrying now was ... well, it was actually kinda worrying.

Logan didn't enjoy worrying.

He scowled and focused on pouring out a drink, trying to shake off the feeling of apprehension that was wandering up his spine despite his best efforts. He must be getting paranoid in his old age, he thought morosely. After all, no one else seemed to be concerned about the situation that was currently playing out in front of them.

Despite himself, he found his eyes being drawn back once again to the private alcove of the bar where his charge sat, and he watched, his brow furrowed, as Charles lowered his lashes and sent a heated glance towards the new golden boy, Lehnsherr, even as he cuddled in closer to the arm that Shaw had casually - _possessively_ \- thrown around his shoulders.

Logan sighed. Charles was playing a dangerous game.

It wasn't one that he hadn't played before, of course; Logan had seen the same scene played out several times before, and every time it'd had the exact same players. Well - _almost_ the same. Charles was the constant, as was Shaw, as well as Logan and Azazel and all the other lowlifes with enough smarts not to stick their fingers where they might get bitten off; it was only the poor clueless bastard clutching on to the end of the silken thread that Charles dangled that always changed. Drake, Le Beau ... heck, even Marko. It was a dangerous thing, being on the receiving end of Charles's admiration, and Lehnsherr was only the latest in a long line of poor suckers to be drawn in to the twisted little charade that Charles enjoyed playing. He wasn't the first and he sure as hell wouldn't be the last.

But then ... if that was so, then why did Logan feel so damn anxious all of a sudden?

Maybe it was because of the way that Lehnsherr watched Charles: the intensity of it, like there was nobody else that existed in the moment except the two of them. Maybe it was the way Charles looked back, with something more than desire and a little bit more than the usual thrill and anticipation that he usually reserved for these games of his.

Maybe it was the way that - for perhaps the first time during such a game - Logan could see a flash of consternation - of _jealousy_ \- cross Sebastian Shaw's face.

Shaw was a man who liked sharing his toys, Logan knew, safe in the knowledge that at the end of the day those toys would be returned to their rightful owner. This glimpse of jealousy ... Well, Logan was skilled at reading people, but a person wouldn't need half his instincts to know that Shaw sensed something wrong there and that meant that, for at least one of them, things were not going to end well.

Logan honestly didn't really care what happened at that point, as long as that one person wasn't _Charles_.

He was broken out of his grim reverie by the sound of someone approaching the bar, and he looked up in time to see Charles sauntering towards him, a knowing smile on his face.

'I could feel you glowering at me all the way from over there,' he said, his eyes twinkling and his red lips pulled upwards. He placed an empty glass on the bar top before leaning over to place one cool fingertip underneath Logan's chin, drawing him dangerously close. 'Now what could I _possibly_ have done to annoy you from all the way back there?' he murmured, deliberately drawing Logan's attention down to his lips.

It was a tempting sight.

Logan, however, had had years to become inured to Charles's many charms, and while he was admittedly not entirely immune to Charles's seductions, he was nevertheless not enough of a dumb bastard to get involved in whatever fucked up situations Charles took pleasure in engineering. 

Deliberately raising his eyes away from Charles's mouth, Logan instead focused on the spot behind them both where he could see both Erik and Shaw watching them narrowly, even as they both tried to appear unaffected. Logan then turned his eyes back to Charles before raising an eyebrow.

'What, the two of them panting after you ain't enough?' he said wryly.

Charles smirked at that, his eyes lighting up with amusement, and he released Logan's face and slowly drew back.

'You can never have enough friends,' he murmured innocently.

Logan snorted. 'Your definition of friend is pretty damn different from mine,' he muttered, shaking his head.

Charles's smile turned a shade more genuine. 'I know what friends are, Logan,' he said, reaching out to pat Logan's hand. 'And more importantly, I know _who_ my friends are ... and who I can trust.'

'Can't be a long list,' Logan grunted. 

Charles laughed. 'It's not,' he agreed. 'In fact, there are only two names on it.' He glanced at Logan. 'One of them's yours.'

Logan tried the stifle the feeling of warmth that spread through his chest. 'Damn right it is,' he growled, busying himself with pouring out another finger of whiskey (not the cheap kind - nothing in this place came cheap) and then throwing it back in one gulp. 'I've only been cleaning up your shit for the last decade and a half.' His expression then grew serious. 'Which is why you should actually listen to me this time when I say that you need to end this shit with Shaw and Lehnsherr, Chuck. You've had your fun with the new guy. Now cut him loose.'

Charles pouted. 'I'm not done with him yet,' he said, glancing over at the alcove behind him and smiling sweetly when he saw he was being watched. Logan wasn't entirely sure who the smile was aimed at but from the responses it evoked, he could see that both Shaw and Erik thought that they were the intended recipient. 

He sighed. 'I'm not kidding here, Chuck,' he said, shaking his head. 'I've seen the way Lehnsherr looks at you. That kind of look ... it means nothing but trouble.' He paused, waiting for Charles to respond, but when he didn't so much as bat an eyelid, Logan's eyes narrowed. 'He's _in love_ with you, Charles,' he growled, and was relieved to see Charles react to this, his eyes flashing up sharply to look at Logan.

'You can't know that,' he said simply, though he was unable to hide the troubled expression that crossed his face.

Logan fought the urge to grit his teeth. 'Like hell I can't,' he snapped, accidentally causing a few drops of whiskey to splash over the side of his glass as he filled it once more. 'You may be the smartest guy in the room, Chuck, but it seems you can't see for shit. Lehnsherr's head over fucking heels for you, practically goddamn _obsessed_ , and if you don't go and do something about it, then that poor asshole is going to take it into his head to do something stupid and get himself killed. Worse, he'll probably take you with him!' 

Charles rolled his eyes. 'You exaggerate,' he said calmly.

'I'll remind you of that when you're bleeding out on Shaw's floor, shall I?'

Charles scoffed. 'Honestly, Logan, you're being melodramatic.'

'You know me better than that,' Logan said darkly. He shook his head. 'You should listen to me, Chuck. Get rid of Lehnsherr. Get rid of him now.'

Charles's eyes narrowed. 'Why are you pushing this so hard?' he demanded, sounding suddenly irritated - no, Logan realised, sounding _defensive_. 'Are you jealous of him?' He rounded on Logan, watching him with cold eyes. 'Perhaps you think that _you_ would do a better job of keeping me occupied ... That maybe I should replace Erik with _you_.'

Logan jerked back, trying to contain his anger, knowing that Charles was deliberately trying to provoke him but still helpless to keep the barb from sinking in. 'Oh, I ain't that dumb, bub,' he said, unable to keep a note of bitterness out of his tone. 'Don't forget, I've been here from the start. I saw what happened to Bobby and Remy. I saw how little you cared, afterwards - even after you put a bullet in Drake's skull.' He shook his head, his mouth twisting. 'Personally I ain't all that keen to be discarded and forgotten quite so quickly.'

Charles had gone still while Logan spoke. After a moment, however, he sighed and let his head fall. 'I'm sorry,' he said quietly. 'That was ... uncalled for.'

Logan didn't say anything.

'You are right, of course,' Charles continued, his voice taking on an even, casual tone. 'Erik is far more ... _intense_ than the others. More focused, more single-minded ...'

Logan shot him a look as Charles's tone took on a slightly dreamy quality. It was gone in a moment, however, as Charles continued.

'And of course I see how possessive Sebastian has suddenly become,' he said, frowning and unconsciously rubbing at his left wrist. Logan's eyes narrowed. 'It's become ... concerning.'

'Then _do_ something about it!' Logan growled. 'You've let this run long enough, Charles. You need to get rid of Lehnsherr.'

Something in Charles's expression flickered.

Logan's eyes narrowed. ' _Or_ ,' he said slowly, watching Charles carefully. 'Or, maybe - maybe you ought to get rid of _Shaw_.'

Charles's eyes flew up to his, momentarily startled. He relaxed after a moment, his face settling back into a mask of casualness 'No,' he said after a beat, shaking his head firmly. 'That's not - that's not an option.'

Logan gave him a look.

'Well,' Charles amended. 'Not _now_ , at any rate.'

Logan sighed. 'Well, you need to do something,' he said flatly. 'Because at this rate I wouldn't be surprised to wake up to find that one of you has murdered the others in their beds.'

'Ah,' Charles grinned, his eyes gleaming wickedly, 'But which one of us would be the one holding the gun?'

'That'll be _me_ if you're not careful,' Logan growled. His expression turned serious as turned back to Charles. 'Don't draw this out, Charles,' he warned, even as he saw Shaw get to his feet in the background, closely followed by Erik. 'Sooner or later, you're going to have to make a choice.'

'I know,' Charles said coolly. He met Logan's eyes. 'And when it comes to that, I'll do what I always do.'

Logan raised an eyebrow. 'Oh?' he said. 'And what's that?'

Charles smiled, his expression suddenly deadly cold. His hand snaked out and caught Logan's glass of whisky. 'Simple,' he said as he brought the glass up to his lips. 'I'll choose _me_.'

And with that he downed the whiskey, slammed the glass down on the table, and then spun around to await the approach of the two men whom he had wrapped around his littlest finger.

Logan watched Erik and Shaw approach with narrowed eyes. He saw the way Shaw reached for Charles, how he wrapped covetous, entitled fingers around his arm. He saw the way the skin around Lehnsherr's eyes tightened, how his fingers flexed as his gaze settled on the place where Shaw's hand touched Charles.

He shook his head, watching the three of them retreat. 'Your funeral, bub,' he muttered under his breath, reaching out to pour himself another glass of whiskey.

As he glanced up at the retreating backs of the three men, he realised he still wasn't sure which one of them he was talking about.


End file.
